01-09-2009, 04:18 PM
BRUTAL stuff.. [size=150:3rm3rfwl]MRSA[/size] Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Look it up.
The wife and I had our turn at it...
At first, which is VERY typical for MRSA, she thought and the doctor thought she had an ingrown hair that had formed a largish cyst and was mildly infected... gave her a standard antibiotic and lots of treatment advice... BUT a few weeks later she had what appeared to be an spider bite at the top of her thigh (also not untypical for MRSA). a wee white blister and a circular red area about the size of a bottle top. By the end of the work day it had swollen to a "boil" about 6" / 15cm by 2" / 5cm and about 3/4" / 2cm tall! And it had burst.... releasing a generous volume of fluids.
HOLY CRAPPVS!
Straight to the Doc. He immediatley treated it as a Staph infection, but was unwillingly to definitively state that it was MRSA (pronounced: mersa) without tests as it could also be another form that drugs have little to effect on!!
HOLIER CRAPPVS!!
Drugs, bandaging, treatment procedures, special anitibiotic soaps, lots of hand sanitizer, no sharing towels, sterilize all surfaces, no kissing or sneezing on anyone, change sheets daily, no wearing jeans a second day, sleep in pajamas to avoid spreading it to loved ones (me!!)
We had a cruise to Mexico planned and paid for. Doc said it was AOK to travel just stick to the routine, also no jacuzzi or pool use or using public toilets, ... and she loves her jacuzzi!...
So guess who gets it? Yup, me too! I had a tiny itty bitty eensy weeny nick on my forearm that I kept bandaged and gooped with antibiotic creamy stuff. But two days into the cruise it swelled up... 7" long, 3" wide...
The swelling is very painful. Feels like a burn, very tender to the touch.. Imagine removing bandages from my hairy arms with the degree of tenderness associated with the infection! It was like a million tiny needles (with barbed ends) were being inserted into my arm every time I changed the bandage.. I shaved the hair but that was excrutiating and I'm rather pain tolerant...
And the infection oozes.. the skin around the opening of the cyst starts to peel away..
So we get back home, Doc confirms it's MRSA but not the lethal version. Admits he wanted us to go on the Cruise as it might've been the last time we'd able to travel.. .. because we'd be quranteened and then dead.
We cancelled most contact with family and friends for the ensuing weeks. We both have elderly parents and friends with infants and toddlers. Sincee I work outdoors, mostly I couldn't as the Super-Duper Antibiotic I was on made my skin UV sensitive... when I did go outside it was long sleeves, long pants and a hat... I missed a month of work as I had to have two consecutive treatments of the drug... I finally went back to work a few days ago.
Are we dead? ...nope. It stayed out of our lungs.. we had goopy gel to smear in our noses to reduce the chance of a lung infection which is traditionally fatal.
Are we carriers? Not really. It's highly spreadable when someone has an active infection. BUT... we're very cautious now and that's my point in sharing this...
It's a common disease in prisons, sports teams, the military and amongst health care professionals. As the Doc said, as I've read your health care worker has either had it, has it, or will get it very soon.
Its most commonly transmitted via mucous or saliva.. sneezing, coughing, kissing or touching with hands that were coughed or sneezed into.... or contact with an infection or infected discards such as used bandaging.
I'm al about no ttreating kids with anitbiotics for EVERYTHING. always have been. We'v always refused antibio shots when the kids went to the Doc with a flu or other problem unless it was directly related to bacteria! When I was a kid we had a 15 second rule about food on the floor.. not 5 seconds..
But I DO NOT want to get this again!!
The best thing you can do is use a sterilizing gel when you use public facilities... clean your hands BEFORE you unzip or sit and then clean after. Why before? What if someone has a staph infection and he touched the door with compromised hands and then you touch the door and then touch yourself?? I always open public restorrom doors with a paper towel or tissue.. or my foot...
The other brutal aspect was the complete disruption of my digestive tract. The powerful anitbio drug killed off bad and good bacteria. I was either constipated or like a loose goose. Lower intestinal camps from gas... on one occasion I ate a small portion of cabbage and within an hour I swelled up so much I had to unbutton my pants followed by intensely painful gas build up and then out-gassing!
I was not digesting food well. Put on 10 pounds! Still having trouble with it as my body tries to find its traditional balance. Eating yoghurt 4 times a day every day plus a special yoghurt-like drink.. blech!
Also the infection on my forearm affected the tendons. My thumb, index and middle finger of my left had are weak and tire easily. Its improving. When its cold its very noticable that the circulation to those digits is impaired as they are particularly colder than my other fingers.
My wife still has bruising on her thigh from it, and some scarring. I have scarring as well, though on my scarred up arm it's less noticable.
This is not a fun disease. When in public clean your hands frequently. It is the simplest way to prevent becomming infected.
MRSA
Sean / Hibernicus
ps. A convenient way to disinfect surfces are those antiseptic wipes in a cannister. You know how it says DONT FLUSH? Well, they really mean it. We used so many and I was the culprit tossing them into the flusher. Seems tehy tend to lay flat inteh pipes and build up in layers like shingles then you have to call a plumber to rooter your drains and that costs more than a good Deepeeka helmet!
Look it up.
The wife and I had our turn at it...
At first, which is VERY typical for MRSA, she thought and the doctor thought she had an ingrown hair that had formed a largish cyst and was mildly infected... gave her a standard antibiotic and lots of treatment advice... BUT a few weeks later she had what appeared to be an spider bite at the top of her thigh (also not untypical for MRSA). a wee white blister and a circular red area about the size of a bottle top. By the end of the work day it had swollen to a "boil" about 6" / 15cm by 2" / 5cm and about 3/4" / 2cm tall! And it had burst.... releasing a generous volume of fluids.
HOLY CRAPPVS!
Straight to the Doc. He immediatley treated it as a Staph infection, but was unwillingly to definitively state that it was MRSA (pronounced: mersa) without tests as it could also be another form that drugs have little to effect on!!
HOLIER CRAPPVS!!
Drugs, bandaging, treatment procedures, special anitibiotic soaps, lots of hand sanitizer, no sharing towels, sterilize all surfaces, no kissing or sneezing on anyone, change sheets daily, no wearing jeans a second day, sleep in pajamas to avoid spreading it to loved ones (me!!)
We had a cruise to Mexico planned and paid for. Doc said it was AOK to travel just stick to the routine, also no jacuzzi or pool use or using public toilets, ... and she loves her jacuzzi!...
So guess who gets it? Yup, me too! I had a tiny itty bitty eensy weeny nick on my forearm that I kept bandaged and gooped with antibiotic creamy stuff. But two days into the cruise it swelled up... 7" long, 3" wide...
The swelling is very painful. Feels like a burn, very tender to the touch.. Imagine removing bandages from my hairy arms with the degree of tenderness associated with the infection! It was like a million tiny needles (with barbed ends) were being inserted into my arm every time I changed the bandage.. I shaved the hair but that was excrutiating and I'm rather pain tolerant...
And the infection oozes.. the skin around the opening of the cyst starts to peel away..
So we get back home, Doc confirms it's MRSA but not the lethal version. Admits he wanted us to go on the Cruise as it might've been the last time we'd able to travel.. .. because we'd be quranteened and then dead.
We cancelled most contact with family and friends for the ensuing weeks. We both have elderly parents and friends with infants and toddlers. Sincee I work outdoors, mostly I couldn't as the Super-Duper Antibiotic I was on made my skin UV sensitive... when I did go outside it was long sleeves, long pants and a hat... I missed a month of work as I had to have two consecutive treatments of the drug... I finally went back to work a few days ago.
Are we dead? ...nope. It stayed out of our lungs.. we had goopy gel to smear in our noses to reduce the chance of a lung infection which is traditionally fatal.
Are we carriers? Not really. It's highly spreadable when someone has an active infection. BUT... we're very cautious now and that's my point in sharing this...
It's a common disease in prisons, sports teams, the military and amongst health care professionals. As the Doc said, as I've read your health care worker has either had it, has it, or will get it very soon.
Its most commonly transmitted via mucous or saliva.. sneezing, coughing, kissing or touching with hands that were coughed or sneezed into.... or contact with an infection or infected discards such as used bandaging.
I'm al about no ttreating kids with anitbiotics for EVERYTHING. always have been. We'v always refused antibio shots when the kids went to the Doc with a flu or other problem unless it was directly related to bacteria! When I was a kid we had a 15 second rule about food on the floor.. not 5 seconds..
But I DO NOT want to get this again!!
The best thing you can do is use a sterilizing gel when you use public facilities... clean your hands BEFORE you unzip or sit and then clean after. Why before? What if someone has a staph infection and he touched the door with compromised hands and then you touch the door and then touch yourself?? I always open public restorrom doors with a paper towel or tissue.. or my foot...
The other brutal aspect was the complete disruption of my digestive tract. The powerful anitbio drug killed off bad and good bacteria. I was either constipated or like a loose goose. Lower intestinal camps from gas... on one occasion I ate a small portion of cabbage and within an hour I swelled up so much I had to unbutton my pants followed by intensely painful gas build up and then out-gassing!
I was not digesting food well. Put on 10 pounds! Still having trouble with it as my body tries to find its traditional balance. Eating yoghurt 4 times a day every day plus a special yoghurt-like drink.. blech!
Also the infection on my forearm affected the tendons. My thumb, index and middle finger of my left had are weak and tire easily. Its improving. When its cold its very noticable that the circulation to those digits is impaired as they are particularly colder than my other fingers.
My wife still has bruising on her thigh from it, and some scarring. I have scarring as well, though on my scarred up arm it's less noticable.
This is not a fun disease. When in public clean your hands frequently. It is the simplest way to prevent becomming infected.
MRSA
Sean / Hibernicus
ps. A convenient way to disinfect surfces are those antiseptic wipes in a cannister. You know how it says DONT FLUSH? Well, they really mean it. We used so many and I was the culprit tossing them into the flusher. Seems tehy tend to lay flat inteh pipes and build up in layers like shingles then you have to call a plumber to rooter your drains and that costs more than a good Deepeeka helmet!
Hibernicus
LEGIO IX HISPANA, USA
You cannot dig ditches in a toga!
[url:194jujcw]http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org[/url]
A nationwide club with chapters across N America
LEGIO IX HISPANA, USA
You cannot dig ditches in a toga!
[url:194jujcw]http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org[/url]
A nationwide club with chapters across N America
hock: 
